Al Waleed, a nephew of King Abdullah with a $20-billion investment empire, said allowing Saudi women to drive in the conservative Moslem country means nearly 500,000 foreign private drivers, mostly Asians, would lose their jobs.

One of the world’s 30 richest persons, the Prince said he was surprised that the ban remains in force when a Saudi woman scaled Mount Everest last week and another became the country’s first female passenger aircraft pilot.

He was referring to Raha Mubarak who was the first Saudi woman to reach Everest and Hanadi Al Hindi, the first Saudi woman to become a commercial flight pilot last month.

“Hanadi piloted an aircraft and Raha reached Everest but the Saudi woman still cannot drive her own car,” he said.